The Secret Ingredient That Can Change Your Business Overnight

Affiliate Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Although you won’t pay any more for any purchases you make, the commissions will enable me to continue to provide free content to readers.

As a freelancer I have used LOTS of different email marketing service providers. Between you and me, I actually get aggravated by having to do that. I mean, think about it… Imagine having to have intermediate knowledge of most email marketing service providers out there to serve clients. It’s almost an impossible task!

The ones I’ve used off the top of my head: InfusionSoft, 1ShoppingCart, Constant Contact, AWeber, Active Campaign, MailChimp, Soffront, MadMimi, Emma, and OntraPort. (And I reserve the right to edit this list later when I remember more!)

That’s 10 different email service providers I’ve used in the past two years working with clients. And that’s just ONE tool I use in my services for clients. That doesn’t count shopping cart programs, membership programs, etc.

And each one of those email providers has different features and benefits. Some have CRM (customer resource management) functionality. Some don’t. Some offer a shopping cart as a feature, others offer pretty email templates. No matter what the feature, they are really all just bells and whistles, friends… like the peacock trying to be the most impressive.

Here’s the thing with bells and whistles, they’re distracting as hell.

Yeah, some of them may serve a purpose. But I’m a member of the KISS club, keep it simple, stupid. Because your content, the info you share, your authenticity, your message… THAT’S what should get the attention in your email marketing efforts, not the unnecessary bells and whistles.

I’ve shared before (start around paragraph 5) how important it is to have an email list for your business. When all is said and done, it’s the closest thing you have control over to keep in contact with your audience. Social media platforms disappear, all. the. time. Your web provider could go down and your site not be up for an undetermined amount of time. So many things could happen that could keep someone from find you when they need the services you provide. And they will go elsewhere. Just because your world has stopped on a dime, doesn’t mean a potential client will wait on you to work out your tech issues.

But if you’ve got an email list, YOU have control of when and how you stay in contact with your subscribers. Your Facebook group gets suspended for some reason… it’s ok. Send out an email. Pivot. Web server goes out, no website for 3 days. No problemo, send an email out. Email provider gets accidentally blacklisted and you have to wait to clear everything up for a week… again, piece of cake. Have a backup spreadsheet of your list handy so you can still get in contact with your readers.

See the pattern here? Getting an idea of why having an email list is SO dang important?

Literally, ConvertKit changed my business overnight. Wanna know the secret how? The content upgrade, two words you should make a priority to learn. A content upgrade is another word for freebie, lead magnet, read magnet, etc. I mean really there are 1,000,001 words for it nowadays but it’s pretty simple really. It’s an exchange of trust between a reader and a writer. You give me your email, I’ll give you some information that will make a valuable difference in your business. That’s the beauty and simplicity of a content upgrade.